O'Gara Group closes purchase of BAE

New jobs will be added to Butler County after the announcement that a second armoring facility will open in Fairfield. Full Story >

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) -

The O'Gara Group, Inc. announced that it has completed the purchase of BAE Systems Commercial Armored Vehicles LLC and has renamed the business O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Company LLC.

This acquisition greatly expands the capacity of O'Gara's Mobile Systems division, which currently designs, develops and manages the integration of highly engineered ballistic and blast systems to provide security vehicles with the highest levels of protection to counter terrorism.

This acquisition reunites the former owners of, and many members of management and other personnel from, the former O'Gara-Hess & Eisenhardt Armoring Company, which was one of the largest armored vehicle manufacturers in the world before its sale to Armor Holdings in 2001 and its eventual purchase by BAE Systems in 2007.

O'Gara's Mobile System division currently has security vehicle armoring and electronics integration facilities in San Antonio, TX and Fairfield, OH.

"Helping protect the lives of U.S. diplomats and other foreign service personnel abroad is a critical task for our company," said Bill O'Gara, CEO of The O'Gara Group. "We are extremely pleased to have our former business back and look forward to providing our customers with the most technologically advanced protection that allows them to safely and confidently conduct their business."

The purchase price was approximately $10 million.

The O'Gara Group, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, provides global security and defense products and services for use in counter-terrorism. Customers include governments, military, homeland security, and commercial customers.